The Day After...

We're going to be OK. Thank you for all the kind thoughts and words. Although, I am still reeling from exhaustion, I am emotionally all right. I don't "blame" myself for last night, as in: "I'm a bad person and did something terrible". I know that I did the best that I could. But I did make mistakes and I want to learn from them. To make sure that they NEVER happen again.

Diva and "Dilemma" Affectionately called "Emma"

Tired girls.




Savannah had twin ewe lambs while I was at work this morning. Of course, my
camera batteries just died so I can't take any pictures yet. Something to look forward to.

One weary shepherdess, heading for bed in the Bluff Country...

DREAM says......."Boy! Mom's new medication must REALLY be working!!"

You've got that right, Dreamer.
;-)

Bluff Country "Dilemma"

The good news is that Diva has a beautiful Hst ewe lamb.
The bad news is that there was also a HsT ram lamb. He didn't make it.
This is the first lamb that I've ever lost. I feel at least partially, if not totally to blame. Rather than call the vet when Diva's labor did not progress. I waited.
And waited. And waited. Until 2:00 in the morning, when I decided that I HAD to help. I have plastic/ob gloves on hand, so donned one and cautiously 'went inside' of Diva. This is not an easy thing to do, in the dark, by yourself, when there's nobody there to HOLD the ewe. But I managed. Well enough to find a foot. A foot that I (unfortunately) determined to be a hind foot. I brought out the other foot. And I pulled. Pretty darn hard. When the legs were delivered beyond the knee, it became apparent that these were NOT hind legs, but front. Shit.

I reached back in and, try as I might, I could not find a head. I called the vet. At 2:23 a.m. He got here at 2:55. Not a happy camper. Told me I probably did more harm than good by 'going in'. With no small amount of effort, he was able to reach in and grab the whole ram lamb. Which, by now, was dead. The vet tossed him aside and reached back in. He quickly brought out another slimy package and set it aside. I grabbed it and cleared the membranes off the face. Stuck my hand in the mouth and rubbed like crazy. The little thing sputtered! Much to the vet's surprise, Dilemma survived. (so far) And so did Diva (so far).

I just checked on them, in the jug and they appear to be fine. I have to go to work now. I'll take pictures and update you when I get home.

I'm sorry, little ram lamb...

DILEMMA...

Things were pretty quiet in the Bluff Country yesterday.


I had the day off work and it was beautiful out so I spent the day mowing the lawn, sitting with my sheep and skirting fleeces. Daisy, the kitten, is trying to make friends with the lambs (the momma sheep try to KILL her!).

Socrates doesn't seem to think she's so bad.

My problem today is: I'm quite sure that Diva is in early labor. I'm supposed to WORK. *I HATE WORK ~ IT'S SUCH AN INTRUSION ON MY LIFE!!!! * The dilemma is ~ Diva could take all day and deliver these babies sometime this afternoon or evening. She's not in active labor yet (no pawing or straining). But she IS in early labor. I know my sheep and I know when things are happening! So, do I stay home from work and keep an eye on things, just in case she needs a helping hand? Or do I pretend to be a responsible, grownup, employee and go to my job, where I am scheduled to work until 3:00 o'clock this afternoon? I could hope she waits until I get home to deliver. I could come home to two beautiful, moorit and white, HST lambs, all clean and fed. Of course, I would be a frantic, nut-case, worried, mid-wife/grandma the entire day at work. I'm thinking I would be MUCH more productive at home. I'll clean house this morning (while looking out the window, frequently, to check Diva. Maybe even skirt some more fleeces ~ it's supposed to be a beautiful day!

THANK YOU DIVA!!! ;-)

Dream says......."Did you hear that, Fantasy??? Mom's going to stay home and play with US today!"

LADIES IN WAITING...

Rosie, Savannah & Diva are the last to lamb.
I wonder who will be next? No one appears to be in any hurry. All are grazing and ran up to greet me this morning. At least I know I'll get more brown babies! I have to go to work now, so we'll see what I come home to this afternoon...

A Break in the Action...

No new lambs today (which I admit is a welcome relief!) so I thought I give you an update on the ewe lambs, so far....

It's past my bedtime, so I'm going to make this quick but here are the first 8 ewe lambs of 2007:

Bluff Country Zaria started us out with an HST ram lamb and this little HsT doll: "Bluff Country Crown Jewel"

For some reason, I have taken to naming all of Bluff Country Zest's daughters "Bella" something or other. This year is no exception. Meet "Bella Luna". She is beautiful ~ delicate and feminine, like her dam. And sired by Windswept Bravo, so carries HST spotting genetics on both sides of her pedigree. Bella already comes running up to me for scratches!

Next, beautiful Lostlake Farm Phoebe presented me with triplets, including this little beauty: "Bluff Country Tiara" What a little show off! She bosses her brothers around and is the leader of the lamb races. An exquisite, moorit, krunet, Tiara is one of the very best moorit Shetlands we have produced. I wish I could keep her...

The next little angel to grace our pasture was "Bluff Country Fantasy", Dream's black & white flecket daughter. Her twin brother is an HST. Fantasy (sometimes I call her 'Fanny', for short) is the friendliest of all the lambs and literally comes running when I enter the barn or pasture.

Zodiak blessed me with twin ewe lambs AGAIN this year. First we have "Bluff Country Gemini" Gemini is black, with a splash of white on her head and a small, krunet cap (indicating she carries spotting genetics).

Gemini's twin sister "Bluff Country Polka Dot" (black & white HST)) is a knock out! She is the first of the 2007 lambs to be spoken for.
This is another picture of 'Dot'. It shows you why she got her name. ;-)

Flash Flood also showed me that she carries the gene for Moorit! This is her beautiful daughter, sired by Bravo, "Bluff Country Godiva". Another exquisite moorit with incredible fleece!

With her latest set of triplets, sired by Bravo, Alice gave me the beautiful, black ewe lamb that I have wished for from her since the first year I owned her. Meet "Bluff Country Destiny" (black with a splash of white on her head). Many of Destiny's solid colored siblings have gone on to produce HST Shetlands and I'm confident that she will too.

DREAM says...."Imagine that! Who would have thought that MY little girl would be the friendliest lamb?

I think she's the prettiest too!"

Here they are.....

My Dear Alice would NOT bring her babies out of the barn yesterday! She was not very happy with me because I put all the moms and babies back into the main barn & paddock and put the three remaining "ladies in waiting" into the smaller, nursery paddock. Alice made it quite clear that she thought there were entirely too many sheep in her barn. When I got up this morning, Alice and her triplets were out in the fresh paddock. (as far away from the other sheep as she could get!)

Meet Alice's 7 pound, 4 ounce, black/bleset, son "Bluff Country Dynasty" and 5 pound, 10 ounce, black (with a wisp of white), daughter: "Bluff Country Destiny". I've been hoping for a black ewe lamb since I first bred Alice ~ THIS year I was hoping for a grey ewe lamb. ;-)

Needless to say, I was THRILLED when I saw this grey head being born. Unfortunately (for me, but lucky for somebody else!) lamb number three is another ram. Meet "Bluff Country Einstein". I swear, he looks like he's wearing spectacles! (and he's very smart!) Einstein weighed in at 6 pounds, 10 ounces.

As the other ewes and lambs started venturing into the paddock (perhaps because they sensed that I was sneaking Alice some creep feed!), Alice escorted her triplets to a cluster of trees.

Einstein took the opportunity for a game of "hide-and-seek"!

THERE you are!

I missed you too....

Proud MommaI don't know if you can tell if you click on this picture to enlarge it, but Dynasty is so big that he lies down to eat!

Alice does it again...

After a LONG day, Alice delivers her first lamb....it's a GIRL!!! (suffice it to say that I had the plastic gloves and lubricant by my side)

Our lovely, little, black girl was already cleaned and dry when big brother made his appearance...

In a very short time, Alice delivered lamb number THREE ~ a gorgeous, grey, ram lamb. Typical Alice: more boys than girls. I am thrilled!

AND TIRED!
And GRATEFUL!! Everyone's safe and healthy.

ALICE WATCH '07

THE GREAT ESCAPE!Alice makes a run for the nursery paddock! Silly me, I didn't latch the gate and the wind blew it open.

Here she is, checking out the new mom's and lambs!

Alice and "Tiara" seemsd to be quite taken with each other.

Checking out the nursery barn (where the lambing jugs are). I think she's getting ready!

I would NOT be surprised if my beautiful lady gives me TRIPLETS again this year...

Look how SUNKEN she is!

The wait continues. Alice is not straining, has not really 'swollen' in the vulva area or done any pawing. She is, however, staying off by herself, now that I put her back into the 'waiting' paddock...

busy, Busy, BUSY...

FLASH FLOOD presented me with these beautiful twins (by Paco) this morning. What a nice way to start the day!!

This is Flash's handsome, white ram lamb. He looks just like his momma did as a lamb!

He's sticking pretty close to mom this morning. He really does have two ears....

This little doll is "Bluff Country Godiva" (as in the chocolate).

Oh! How I wish I could keep another ewe lamb....

Moorit, with Flash & Phoebe's exquite, crimpy fleece! I think Godiva and Tiara (Phoebe's lamb) are the nicest moorit lambs we've ever had! (and we've had some mighty fine moorit lambs!


After 3 years with no white lambs, I'm thrilled that Phoebe and Flash gave me THREE this year. Of course, it WOULD have been nice to have a girl! I'll just be grateful and count my blessings that everyone is healthy!

****************************
I'm going to try to post an "ALICE WATCH" quick...
BEFORE she has her lambs! Yup, I'm pretty sure she's in early labor.

THE DREAM TEAM....

Some of the members of my beloved "Blog Family" have taken to referring to Dream and her twins as "The Dream Team". I LOVE IT!!!

This is Dream's beautiful, flecket daughter. I'm leaning towards naming her "Bluff Country Fantasy". What do you think? Isn't she beautiful? She is flecket ~ as opposed to HST because her white extends onto her main body. Still flashy and gorgeous and I love her!

This is an awful picture, but my camera batteries died, after I took it so it's the only one I've got for now. The batteries are in the recharger and hopefully, I'll get some new pictures this afternoon/evening. In the meantime, this fellow is Dream's HsT son. I could use some help with naming him.... I've thought about "Day Dreamer". Don suggested "Nightmare". Should we have a name that lamb contest???

TWINS!!!

"Bluff Country Dream" and "Bluff Country Black Diamond" are the proud, first-time parents of TWINS! Mother, son and daughter are doing splendidly.
Pictures and details tomorrow. I'm going to bed!

I'll be smiling though...

DREAM'S IN LABOR!!!!

Now, WHERE was I before I was so rudely interrupted? Oh yeah, Zodiak Lambing...

By this time, Zodiak had been pushing for quite a while. Although, I could see two toes, I could NOT see a nose and was getting concerned. I like to try to interfere as little as possible but decided it was time to take a closer look. Sure enough, I realized that the two feet I was seeing were HIND feet! With a gentle pull, Zodiak's second daughter slid to the ground and Mom started the clean up duties...

Big Sister, who has stayed VERY close to Zodiak throughout the whole ordeal offered her assistance...

Having babies is hard work! Zodiak takes a snack...

Lamb number one is working hard too! She needs a snack as well....

It's another GIRL!!!!

HAPPY FAMILY

I dipped the babies cords in iodine; gave Zodiak some de-wormer and water with molasses in it and tucked them safely into a jug with lots of fresh hay for the night.

I'll catch you up with Dream and Alice later today.... ;-)